Genting Group broke ground on July 22nd on the second phase of its $5.5 billion Resorts World New York City expansion, less than three months after the Queens property opened as New York City’s first full commercial casino.
According to a company press release issued the same day, the second phase includes a new 400-room hotel tower adjoining the existing Hyatt Regency and 1,200 additional rooms under Genting’s luxury Crockfords brand. The additions will take the property’s planned hotel inventory to 2,000 rooms.
The project will also include a 7,000-seat multipurpose arena, a central plaza and a new parking garage.
The Kenny “The Jet” Sports and Media Complex will be relocated to the center of the resort campus and is scheduled to open three years earlier than initially pledged.
The full expansion will add 2 million square feet of gaming, entertainment, dining, retail and convention space to the existing 1-million-square-foot property. Genting expects the development to create 10,000 jobs, including about 5,000 union construction positions.
Genting Group executive chairman Lim Kok Thay said the company was beginning construction outside the property’s existing building ahead of its original timetable.
“In less than three months after opening our doors as the first casino in New York City’s history, we are already moving towards a day when the city will have a first-of-its-kind integrated resort,” Lim said.
Genting Americas East president Robert DeSalvio said interest in the project had remained strong since the company submitted its license bid.
“Today, that same excitement is present as we break ground on Phase Two, which will bring new infrastructure, new parking, and the next wave of hotel rooms that will support two million square feet of new gaming, entertainment, and hospitality space in the years ahead,” he said.
With only two gaming floors operating since the April 28th opening, Resorts World said the property paid $170 million in casino taxes and horse-racing support during its first 12 weeks. The amount was more than 30 percent higher than in the same period last year, when the property still operated as a video lottery terminal facility.
The groundbreaking comes after Lim said Resorts World New York City could become one of Genting Malaysia’s most successful investments and potentially match or surpass the performance of Singapore integrated resort Resorts World Sentosa.
Lim, who is also Genting Malaysia’s deputy chairman and chief executive, said the New York property’s performance had met expectations since opening. He cited the city’s population, per-capita income, financial sector and economic scale as supporting its long-term potential.
The property had operated as a video lottery terminal facility since 2011 before introducing more than 240 live tables on April 28th. Its phased expansion continued with the addition of 1,400 slot machines on July 21st.
